Omaha daily bee., 1887-03-03
IN DEFENSE OF THE KNIGHTS.
Cardinal Gibbons Makes Strong Report
to the Holy See.
HE URGES NO CONDEMNATION.
The Spirit OF the Order Not lnCom
patible With the Teachings OF
the Church-A Prcdic.
tion of Results.
Cardinal Gibbons Ecport,

ROME, March 2.--fNew York Herald Cable
Special to the BEE. Il send you herewith
| all the essential passages in Cardinal Gibbons
report to the Propaganda on the Knights of
Labor:
To his Eminence, Cardinal Simeoni, Pre-
| feet of the Holy Congregation of the Propa
| ganda-l our Eminence: In submitting to
| the holy see the conclusions which, after sew
! eral months of observation. and deep reilec-
tion, seem to me to sum up the question of
the association of the Knights of Labor, am
strongly convinced OF the vast importance of
this question, which forms but one ring in
the great chain of the social problems of our
day, and especially of our country. In iudg-
ing this question have taken great care to
use as my constant guide the
spirit of the encycycals in
which our holy father rOne Leo MIL
has so admirably exposed the dangers of our
time and their remedies, and has explained
the principles by which we shall be guided
in distinguishing the associations condemned
BY the holy see. Such also, were the guides
of the 'tird plenary council of Baltimore in
its teachings about the principles to be fol-
lowed and the dangers to be avoided bv the
faithful in the formation of associations to-
ward which the spirit of our popular institu-
fatal consequences that might result through
an error in the treatment of the organiza
tions, which often count their numbers BY
thousands and hundreds of thous-
ands, the council clearly ordered
No. 255-that when an ASSOCIATION has spread
into several dioceses no single bishop of
those dioceses may condemn it, but must
refer the case to the permanent commission
of all the arChbishops of the United States,
who IN their turn, are not authorized to Issue
condemnation unless their decision is unan-
imOus, and in default of such unanimity,
only the holy see itself can impose such a
condemnation, so that error and conf uSion
in ecclesiastical discipline may be avoided.
This commission of archbishops met
toward the end of the month OF October last
to especially consider the association of the
Knights of Labor. We were not led to mold
this meeting by any request on the part OF
the bishops, for none of them did demand 1t,
and it must be added that of all the bishops
only two or three were known to desire the
condemnation. But the
IMPORTANCE OF THE QUESTION
In itself. and the estimates of the holy see,
made us' -exNutrie witnrfie greatest care.
A fter our decision, the results of which have
already been communicated to the holy con-
gregaticn of the propaganda, only two out of
the twelve archbishOps voted for the cOndem-
nation-that is to say, the archbishop of st.
Louis and the archbishop OF Santa Fe, who
followed suit-for reasons which in no way
persuaded the others either of the
justice or prudence of such a
condemnation. In the considerations
which follow ] wish to give in detail the rea-
sons which determined the vote of the great
e a. -;
force of which do not seem to me less power
full to-day AT the same time will try to do
justice to the arguments advanced by the op-
position party.
Although there may be found in
the constitution, the bylaws and of
fetal declarations of the Knights of
Labor certain assertions or regulations
which we might not approve, we have not
found therein the element which the holy see
so clearly designates as condemnatory, and
the formula of their organization contains
neither.oath nor obligation.which preclude
those who do not belong to it, or even their
enemies, from becoming acquainted with
their affairs.
CATHOLICS ARE NOT FORBIDDEN
to divulge everything to competent eccesi
astical authorities, even outside of the con-
fessiOnal, This has been specially explained
to us by the officers. No promise of blind
obedience is required. The objects of the as
sociatiOn and its rules are well and distinctly
established and the obligations of obedience
do not trcsspass their limits. Not only their
objects and their rules are not hostile to re-
ligion or the church, but the very contrary.
The third plenary council fOrbids that we
should condemn any association without Civ
ing its officers or representative a hearing.
(Corypheis vel sociis precipus, No. 254).
Their master workman, in sending me
copy Of their constitution, took occasion to
say that he professed his religion faithfully
and receives the sacraments regularly; that
he belongs to no Masonic association or to
any other otherwise condemned by the
church; that he knows OF nothing
in the society of the Knights
of Labor contrary to the regulations of the
church, and with lilial submission he begs
the pastors of the church to examine all the
details of their organization and SAYS that if
they find therein anything reprehcnsible to
point them out and he will faithfully promise
to have the proper notifications made.
Assuredly this does not look like hostility
toward the authority of the church, but Oh
the contrary
A PERFECTLY LAuDABLE SPIRIT.
hIIeT tilelT convention III NiculnOnu last
year many Of their most Jealous officers and
Catholic members made the same declara-
tions regarding their sentiments AS for the
proceedings OF the convention themselves
(Which we expect soon to receive),
we can no more find therein
any hostility to the church or
to the laws of the land. Not
only their constitution and regulations con-
tain nothing of the sort, but the heads of our
civil authorities treat them and the cause
thy represent with the greatest respect. The
president of the United States told me per-
sonally month ago that he had then under
consideration a matter pertaining 10 certain
social grievances, and that he
had just had a conference
with Mr.. Powdery, the general master
workman of the knights Of Labor, on the
subject. The congress of the United States,
following the advice Of the president, IL now
considering measures tending to ameiorate
the condition of the working class, the
foundation for many Of whose complaints is
openly acknowledged. And the political
parties, far from booking upon them as
enemies OF the country, vie with each other TO
obtain tor them the rights they are clearly